The Eurecat Reus technology centre has appealed for volunteers to help test a new app which will provide them with personalised nutrition and healthy lifestyle tips tailored to each person’s physical and behavioural traits and their preferences, physical condition and metabolism.
This research is part of the European Preventomics (Empowering consumers to PREVENT diet-related diseases through OMICS sciences) project. It has the backing of ALDI supermarkets and will last six months. Over this period, 180 male and female non-smokers with no previous diseases aged between 18 and 65 will be screened. They will have to call in at the Eurecat Reus site three times, first to decide whether they are eligible to take part in the study and then at its beginning and end.
The study will be run at Eurecat’s Nutrition and Health Unit opposite Sant Joan de Reus University Hospital. The email address estudis@eurecat.org and helpline 636 944 723 have been set up so that people who would like to take part can register as volunteers or ask any questions they may have.
The volunteers’ nutritional and lifestyle habits will be assessed during the baseline visit. Biological samples will also be taken to conduct an in-depth study of their metabolic status and tailor the advice to each volunteer.
The volunteers’ information will be processed fully anonymised by the staff involved in the project and volunteers will be able to view it using the Preventomics app.
Over the course of the study “participants will have to use the Preventomics app which will send them recommendations about the healthiest foods and products based on their metabolism along with personalised messages and tips,” says Dr Josep Maria del Bas, the director of Eurecat’s Nutrition and Health Unit. This involves a “behavioural adaptation programme to achieve a sustained and lasting improvement in each person’s health.”
ALDI supermarkets have furnished the project with their product catalogue to validate the Preventomics app in which volunteers can view the items which best suit their physiological condition and preferences. However, this will not restrict purchase options and they will still be able to shop at the store of their choice.
The Preventomics (Empowering consumers to PREVENT diet-related diseases through OMICS sciences) project is coordinated by Eurecat and will conclude with the introduction of new technologies to improve health (e-business) and food products intended for human consumption.
